Needy Get Chance To Buy Homes

January 16, 1985|By Ellen Stein, Staff Writer

FORT LAUDERDALE — Housing for low-income to moderate-income families will be available for sale, instead of rent, in a project that will be a first in the history of the Fort Lauderdale Housing Authority, said Executive Director Bill Lindsey.

Plans to develop homes for 22 families also mark the first time the authority has entered a joint venture with a private developer, Lindsey told board members Tuesday.

Lindsey said the authority has already purchased land for the development, known as Cedar Ridge, at Northwest 13th Street and Eighth Avenue. The land is vacant, but has been used by some people as a trash dump.

The authority and developer Steve David will apply to the city for a building permit within the next few weeks for 11 two-bedroom duplexes.

``It`s an excellent concept,`` said board chairman Douglas P. Eagon.

``Traditionally, the housing authority has been charged with administering government programs that have provided for subsidies to rental housing units,`` he said. ``But none of the programs have really ever provided the opportunity for some low-income to moderate-income family to own their own home.``

And owning a home, Lindsey and Eagon said, is an enhancement to neighborhood stability.

Developer David could not be reached for comment, but Lindsey said that if things go according to schedule, ground could be broken for the project within the next six weeks.

``This will make available affordable housing without subsidies, and we could greatly use the resource,`` Lindsey said.

Another benefit of the project, Lindsey said, is that unlike the authority`s rental housing, the new homes would remain on the tax rolls.

The project is a demonstration that Lindsey said he hoped would be followed by similar joint ventures between private developers and the authority.

When the new housing units are sold, a portion of the profits will be returned to the authority and, if the project is successful, be used to purchase more land for similar developments.

There are ``easily hundreds of people -- you could probably get away with saying thousands`` who could use the affordable housing, Lindsey said.